Guy Turns 700 Year Old Abandoned Cave Dwelling Into Vacation Home The Rockhouse is a unique luxury cave retreat, hand sculpted from a Triassic sandstone escarpment near the Wyre Forest in rural Worcestershire. Set in 3 acres of woodland on the banks of Honey Brook, The Rockhouse has been occupied for over 700 years. When the site was deserted in 1962 it reverted back to its ‘natural state’ – until it was painstakingly and sympathetically refurbished in 2015 ‘almost single handedly’ by enthusiast and owner Angelo Mastropietro. Check out the Rockhouse below along with an interview with Angelo in a video segment by Barcroft TV. As much a sculpture as it is a dwelling, The Rockhouse has been carefully planned out and features stylish creature comforts such as under floor heating, rainforest shower and clever ambient lighting for a nurturing and natural ambience. The holiday retreat is currently available for rent through Airbnb or direct via their website.
"Earthship Biotecture": Renegade New Mexico Architect’s Radical Approach to Sustainable Living Guests Michael Reynolds creator of radically sustainable living options through a process called "Earthship Biotecture." This is viewer supported news Donate New Mexico residents are trying to a break free from Los Alamos’ nuclear legacy by creating more environmentally sound ways of living. This is a rush transcript. AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from Los Alamos, New Mexico, the birthplace of the Nuclear Age. We turn right now to Mike Reynolds. We were driving along—from Durango, Colorado, to Taos, New Mexico, when we saw this remarkable collection, a fascinating collection, of structures scattered through the sage brush along the road. MICHAEL REYNOLDS: Greenhouse, which is a buffer zone for the house, to make the house stay warmer, hold its heat longer. AMY GOODMAN: So the house is a jungle? MICHAEL REYNOLDS: Yeah, it’s pretty much, mostly, 50 percent, a jungle. AMY GOODMAN: And what is in—what is in these pillars of the house? AMY GOODMAN: And what are these materials, though?
Dilapidated 1860s Barn Gets Revived Into Amazing Entertainment Space When their clients told him they wanted a barn on their property to compliment their 19th-century farmhouse and serve as their guesthouse and entertainment space, architect Douglas VanderHorn started the search process immediately. VanderHorn found this barn outside Albany, New York, via Heritage Restorations, a firm that scouts barns in disrepair for rehabilitation and reuse. According to Houzz, the timbers were already numbered and coded, as that was part of the original construction in the 1860s, when the barn was built. This made it easy to keep things organized during dismantling and rebuilding. The wood was tented and fumigated to get rid of any insects before builders began to put the barn back together. As part of the renovations, they replaced the barn’s original siding with fir reclaimed from another barn that was in better shape, and repurposed it elsewhere in the project. Below you can see some interior shots of the incredible transformation.
US Government Declaring All Out War on Tiny House Living Isaac Davis, StaffWaking Times Freedom in the United States today is a moving target, and when the government catches wind of an innovation that makes life easier and more affordable for ordinary people, it always steps in to take control. Take, for example, the growing effort to outlaw offgrid living in the U.S., as well as moves by local governments around the country to criminalize private rainwater collection. Now, the federal government is making a major move against the tiny house movement, seeking to give the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authority to require tiny houses to conform to the standards of recreational vehicles (RV’s), of which one of the rules is that the vehicles may not be used or marketed for permanent living. The tiny house movement is one of the latest innovations in personal freedom from an overly consumeristic and a debt-driven society. READ: Tiny Houses – Taking On the Matrix of Consumerism How can you affect the outcome?
This Transformable 309 sq ft Smart Home has Way More Than Meets the Eye Hong Kong-based architects LAAB have just completed an incredible home that maximizes every inch of this 309 sq ft (28.7 sq m) flat in Hong Kong’s Central district. The clients had a long wish list that included: full kitchen, bathtub, home cinema, gym, storage—and cat-friendly features for their three furry roommates. After 40 iterations, LAAB came up with a solution that is both functional and elegant. Hong Kong is one of the world’s most expensive cities where an average square foot costs about US$1,416 [source]. To realise their ambitious plans, the team at LAAB had to think beyond static spaces. The “Form Follows Time” philosophy is best demonstrated by the bathtub area of the apartment. 1. The apartment was not only designed for Michelle and Andy but also for their three cats, Banoffee, Dumpling and Tuxedo. A range of app-controlled smart home technologies have also been implemented, primarily Philips Hue bulbs and the August smart lock.
What It's Actually Like To Buy A $500 House In Detroit Sustainable Alternative Homes - Freeing Humans For Further Evolution Source: www.themindunleashed.org | Original Post Date: December 11, 2013 – I would like to invite you to relax. I’m guessing you are doing some reading or web-surfing to free your mind after a long work day. Or maybe it’s your day off and you are entertaining yourself with Facebook and online news. For most of us, life is a constant movement from or to. It seems on this cusp of human transformation, nearing the end of 2013, the topics of conversation, especially in the worldwide ‘conscious’ community, are often veering in the directions of human enlightenment, breaking free of the system, and DNA reactivation- remembering and reclaiming who we are as BEINGS. One project in particular that is especially exciting is called EarthShips. “Earthships are 100% sustainable homes that are both cheap to build and awesome to live in. Here is a video demonstrating one of the EarthShip designs: Written by Laura Weber of www.themindunleashed.org
What Inspired This Man May Surprise You...What He Created From It...Extremely Gorgeous! Caves have a natural beauty to them, as anyone who has been to Carlsbad Caverns can tell you, but Ra Paulette is an expert. Artist Ra Paulette has spent the last decade excavating tunnels and passageways, and carving designs and benches in the sandstone cliffs in northern New Mexico. He spends his time carving a sandstone cave that he found, turning it into a wonderful subterranean space full of light. With no one but his dog for company, Paulette created different designs and styles for every cavern, giving each one very specific qualities and textures. The thought of spending so much time underground without human contact might make some feel claustrophobic, but to this artist, it’s a calling. Credits: CBS Sunday Morning Share these amazing creations with others!
Forget an In-Ground Swimming Pool, this Guy Built His Own Natural Swim Pond! Reddit user power-cube recently shared his backyard DIY project that he has been building in his free time over the last three years. Instead of installing an in-ground swimming pool, he decided to build a natural swim pond with a waterfall, small beach, fish (in one of the two ponds) and plants. Aside from the many man-hours he has put in himself, he figures he has spent about $30,000 on materials. He’s made plenty of mistakes on the way but says working on the project has been just as satisfying (if not more) as the finished product. In an extensive 88-picture album on Imgur he explains his build process and shares progress photos along the way. [via power-cube on reddit] A Few ‘After’ Shots The Build Excavation and laying a 200 x 50 heavy duty pool liner to minimize water loss due to seeping. 60 tons of sand was used 65 tons of river stones and pea gravel One pond for swimming, the other natural pond for fish, plants and wildlife visitors Building the waterfall Setting up water pumps
Cob (material) Building a wall out of cob. Cob, cobb or clom (in Wales) is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, some kind of fibrous or organic material (straw) and earth. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity,[1] and inexpensive. It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements. In technical building and engineering documents such as the Uniform Building Code, cob may be referred to as an "unburned clay masonry" when used in a structural context. 'Cob stitch' repair on old traditional cob cottage in Devon, England Cob is an ancient building material, that may have been used for building since prehistoric times. The walls of a cob house were generally about 24 inches thick, and windows were correspondingly deep-set, giving the homes a characteristic internal appearance. An example of a modern, Pacific Northwest-style cob home. The Cob Builders Handbook
14 Characteristics of Cob Homes - This Cob House A cob home will have a very distinct and unique quality to it that you will not find among conventional homes. Living in a cob house is more than just abiding in a shelter. It includes a unique experience that is both uplifting and healthy. Here are some concepts and advantages of cob homes to consider: Small Cob homes are known to be small and size efficient. Cob homes are also labor intensive to construct and they are often times built by the owners. Local Building with cob falls under the umbrella of “Natural Building.” Artistic People are drawn to cob homes in large part due to their beauty and creative designs. Natural The main ingredients for making cob are: clay, sand, and straw. Social Building a cob home can involve your community and friends to come together in the construction. High Standards A house made out of cob is actually a high standard home. Energy Efficient Cob is a “thermal mass” that absorbs sunlight and warms the building over the course of the day. Owner Built Healthy
Luxury Treehouses by Blue Forest Plastic Bottle Homes and Greenhouses • Nifty Homestead Americans threw away 33 million tons of plastic in 2013, according to the EPA. How long does it take a plastic bottle to degrade in a landfill? Some say 500 years, some say 1,000. Plastic hasn’t been around long enough. We (in our lifetime) will never know how long today’s petroleum-based plastic bottles take to break down in the environment. But we can do something with them while they’re around. Plastic Bottle Homes Around the World Eco-Tec’s Casa de la Fe. Casa de la Fe (Faith House) Honduran Foundation for the Rehabilitation and Integration of the Handicapped. Eco Tec’s Sky Field House under construction. How To Help? The best thing, of course, would be to stop using plastic water bottles completely. An Eco-Tec home in Bolivia. This home in Bolivia incorporates lots of wine bottles as well as PET bottles. Eco-Tec Africa – solving Nigeria’s housing shortage. Polli’s self interlocking plastic bricks are translucent thereby allowing the play of natural light to shine through.
Earth Sheltered Homes • Nifty Homestead “Another type of building is emerging: one that actually heals the scars of its own construction. It conserves rainwater and fuel and it provides a habitat for creatures other than the human one. Maybe it will catch on, maybe it won’t. The earth sheltered home uses the ground as an insulating blanket which effectively protects it from temperature extremes, wind, rain and extreme weather events. Fifteen feet below ground, the soil maintains a fairly constant temperature equal to the annual average temperature of the area’s surface air. In the summer, that 55-degree soil will also keep your home much cooler than an above ground home. Here is a tour of an 1,900 square foot earth-sheltered home built by architect Alan Shope. The 2 Types of Earth Sheltered Homes Earth Sheltered: Dirt covers three exterior sides and the roof (the walls are most often concrete). Earth Bermed: Dirt is pushed up against the exterior walls only, and not onto the roof, yet the roof is usually super-insulated.